Daily News Summary

An electronic digest of media coverage of interest to members of The Florida Bar compiled each workday by the Public Information and Bar Services Department. Electronic links are only active in today's edition. For information on previous articles, please contact the publishing newspaper directly.

JUDICIAL PROJECT ON INDEFINITE HOLD-- Hernando Today, http://www.hernandotoday.com, Dec. 13. 2012.For several years, Hernando County has been trying to find more space for the judiciary. They even created a reserve fund to store up money for the day when it might be necessary to either seek space somewhere in the county or reconfigure the existing government center to create more courtroom space. However, commissioners Tuesday [Dec. 12] put on hold indefinitely any plans to do any redesign of the downtown Brooksville facility until money becomes available or space needs get out of hand. They have yet to decide what to do with the $700,000 that is left in the general fund reserve portion of the reserve and which is under the board's purview. Commissioners say this is not meant to disrespect the judges, who have been clamoring for more space to accommodate an increased workload. Rather, it's about economics.

SENATE CONFIRMS TWO MORE JUDGES IN WHAT MAY BE START OF A TREND-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Dec. 13, 2012. The article is by the National Law Journal. The U.S. Senate has confirmed two more federal district judges as the chamber's Republicans appear more open to whittling down the backlog of non-controversial federal district court judicial nominees who have been awaiting votes for months. The Senate voted 95-0 on Tuesday [Dec. 12] to confirm John Dowdell for the Northern District of Oklahoma and approved Jesus Bernal for the Central District of California with a voice vote. Six district judges have been confirmed during the lame-duck session, a faster pace than the two-per-week agreement reached among Senate leaders in March. There are still 17 nominees, including four for circuit courts, who have been approved by the Judiciary Committee and await votes in the full Senate, according to Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. [Subscription required.]

--Civil Justice Issues--

BREVARD LEADS NATION IN FORECLOSURES-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Dec. 13, 2012. [Also: FORECLOSURE FILINGS RISE AGAIN IN FLORIDA AND TAMPA BAY AREA-- Tampa Bay Times, http://www.tampabay.com, Dec. 13, 2012]. From the Orlando Sentinel: For the first time since the country's real estate collapse began about six years ago, Brevard County led the nation for foreclosure filings, according to a November report by the research firm RealtyTrac Inc. More than any other county in the state, Brevard has been pummeled economically, with an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 layoffs related to the end of NASA's 30-year-old space shuttle program. Florida overall led the nation in foreclosure-related court filings for a third consecutive month in November, California-based RealtyTrac said in a report released Wednesday [Dec. 12]. Nationally, foreclosure activity was down by the same proportions that they were up in Florida.

CALVIN R. MAPP SR., MIAMI'S FIRST BLACK JUDGE, DIES-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Dec. 13, 2012. The article profiles Calvin Reid Mapp Sr., who left the military for teaching, teaching for law enforcement, law enforcement for law, and law for the judicial bench, as the first black judge in Miami-Dade County. He died Nov. 27 at age 88. Gov. Reubin Askew appointed Mapp to fill one of three county judgeships that the Florida Legislature created in 1973. He was 48 at the time, with seven years of trial experience.